git

See also: GIT, Git, and gît

English

Alternative forms

• get

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɪt/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt
• Homophone: ghit (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

From Middle English get (“[illegitimate] offspring”). A southern variant of Scots get (“illegitimate child, brat”), related to beget.

Noun

git (plural gits)

1. (British, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A silly, incompetent, stupid, or annoying person (usually a man).
   • 1968, “I'm So Tired”, in John Lennon (lyrics), The Beatles, performed by the Beatles:

     Although I'm so tired, I'll have another cigarette / And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git

   • 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

     Bit of a flash git, don't you think?

   • 2000 December 18, BBC and Bafta Tribute to Michael Caine, 16:43-17:05:

     Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name was Zulu, wasn't it […] and there of course—against type—you played the toff, you played the officer.
     Caine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.

   • 2007, Greg Weston, The Man Upstairs, →ISBN, page 124:

     Eventually God gives the donkey a voice and it says, "why're you beating me you great stupid git? It's the angel with the sword that you gotta be careful of," or words to that effect.

   • 2019, The Stupendium, “What a Fowl Day”:

     Here we see the common domestic goose, Anser cygnoides domesticus. Found across the British countryside, it is known for its distinctive call; proud, majestic stature; and for being an all-round inconsiderate little git!

   • 2020 December 16, Christian Wolmar, “Coverage of little-used stations does the railway no favours”, in RAIL, page 45:

     I'm not being a miserable old git here. I like a laugh as much as anyone, [...].

Usage notes

• Git is usually used as an insult, more severe than twit but less severe than a true profanity like wanker or arsehole, and may often be used affectionately between friends. Get can also be used, with a subtle change of meaning. "You cheeky get!" is slightly less harsh than "You cheeky git!".
• Git is frequently used in conjunction with another word to achieve a more specific meaning. For instance a "smarmy git" refers to a person of a slimy, ingratiating disposition; a "jammy git" would be a person with undeserved luck. The phrase "grumpy old git", denoting a cantankerous old man, is used with particular frequency.
• In parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, get is still used in preference to git. In the Republic of Ireland, get, rather than git is used.
• The word has been ruled by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be unparliamentary language.

Derived terms

• gittish

Translations

A silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying or childish person

• Czech: blbec (cs) m, hňup (cs) m
• Danish: idiot (da) c, spade (da) c
• Dutch: ouwe lul m (literally "old dick")
• French: con (fr) m, taré (fr)
• German: Idiot (de) m, Blödmann (de) m, Dummkopf (de) m
• Russian: мерза́вец (ru) m (merzávec), дура́к (ru) m (durák)
• Spanish: pendejo (es) m, bastardo (es) m, cretino (es) m
• Turkish: aptal (tr), salak (tr)

Etymology 2

Verb

git (third-person singular simple present gitting, present participle got, simple past and past participle gotten)

1. (Appalachia, Southern US, African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of get.
   • 1920 February 15, Wat Tell, “Cabbages and Kings”, in The Wichita Sunday Eagle, volume LXIX, number 69, Wichita, Kan., →OCLC, page 11, column 5:

     She say fust git a dime’s wuth of potatoes; den she say ‘No, git ten cents wuth of beans,’ den she change her min’ agin an’ say git a dime’s wuth of cabbages, an’ suh, when I brung them cabbages home, I’ll be dinged if she didn’t go an’ bang me on the haid with a coolin’ iron fo’ not gittin’ a quatah’s wuth of livah!

Derived terms

• git along
• git-go
• git gud

Etymology 3

Noun

git (plural gits)

1. Alternative form of geat (channel in metal casting)

Etymology 4

Likely chosen for its shortness and pronounceability, but various other explanations and backronyms were offered after its introduction.

Proper noun

git

1. (computing) Alternative letter-case form of Git, a distributed VCS.

See also

• from the git

Anagrams

• GTi, IGT, TIG, tig

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch git, get, from Latin gagātēs (likely by way of Old French get, jaiet), from Ancient Greek γαγᾱ́της (gagā́tēs), possibly from Γάγας (Gágas, “a town and river in Lycia”). Doublet of gagaat.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

git n or f (plural gitten, diminutive gitje n)

1. (neuter) lignite
2. (neuter) jet (black, gemstone-like geological material)

   Synonym: (obsolete) gagaat

3. (masculine) a stone made of this material

Derived terms

• gitzwart (“jet-black”)

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “git”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒi/

Verb

git

1. Post-1990 spelling of gît (third-person singular present indicative of gésir)

Latin

Etymology

Compare Hebrew גַּד (gad) (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

git n (indeclinable)

1. A plant (Nigella sativa), variously named black cumin, Roman coriander, or melanthion.

References

• “git”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• git in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • my mind forebodes misfortune: animus praesāgit malum
    

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *jit, with the *i leveled in from *wit. Further from Proto-Germanic *jut. Cognate with North Frisian jat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jit/

Pronoun

ġit

1. (the second-person dual nominative) you two
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 20:22

     Þā andswarode him sē Hǣlend: "Ġit nyton hwæs ġit biddaþ."

     Then Jesus answered them: "You two don't know what you're asking for."

Declension

Old English personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	first person		iċ	mē, mec	mē	mīn
	second person		þū	þē, þec	þē	þīn
	third person	neuter	hit		him	his
		masculine	hē	hine
		feminine	hēo	hīe	hire
dual	first person		wit	unc, uncit	unc	uncer
	second person		ġit	inc, incit	inc	incer
plural	first person		wē	ūs, ūsiċ	ūs	ūre, ūser
	second person		ġē	ēow, ēowiċ	ēow	ēower
	third person		hīe		him	heora

Descendants

• Middle English: ȝit, ȝitt, ȝet

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jiːt/

Adverb

ġīt

1. Alternative form of ġīet

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *jit, from Proto-Germanic *jut, remodeled in Proto-Northwest Germanic to *jit by analogy with *wit.

Pronoun

git

1. You two; nominative dual of thū

Declension

Old Saxon personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik	mī, me, mik	mī	mīn
	2nd person		thū	thī, thik	thī	thīn
	3rd person	m	hē	ina	imu	is
		f	siu	sia	iru	ira
		n	it		it	is
dual	1st person		wit	unk		unkero, unka
	2nd person		git	ink		inker, inka
plural	1st person		wī, we	ūs, unsik	ūs	ūser
	2nd person		gī, ge	eu, iu, iuu		euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera
	3rd person	m	sia		im	iro
		f	sia
		n	siu

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish גוט (gut).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: git
• Homophone: gid

Adjective

git (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (colloquial) just right

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dobry

Adverb

git (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) there you go

   Synonyms: fajnie, gitara, gites

Interjection

git

1. (colloquial) excellent!

Noun

git m pers

1. (prison slang) member of a prison subculture that occupies the highest position in the internal hierarchy

Declension

Declension of git

	singular	plural
nominative	git	gici/gity (deprecative)
genitive	gita	gitów
dative	gitowi	gitom
accusative	gita	gitów
instrumental	gitem	gitami
locative	gicie	gitach
vocative	gicie	gici

Derived terms

adjectives

• gites
• gitny
• gitowy

nouns

• git-człowiek
• gitowiec

Related terms

adjectives

• gitesowy

adverbs

• gitesowo
• gitnie
• gitowo

Further reading

• git in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• git in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Rohingya

Noun

git

1. song

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: git

Verb

git

1. second-person singular imperative of gitmek

Vilamovian

Noun

git f

1. goodness

Volapük

Noun

git (nominative plural gits)

1. law (body of binding rules and regulations, customs and standards)

Declension

Declension of git

	singular	plural
nominative	git	gits
genitive	gita	gitas
dative	gite	gites
accusative	giti	gitis
vocative 1	o git!	o gits!
predicative 2	gitu	gitus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

• gitav (“jurisprudence”)
• gitavan (“jurist”)
• gitavik (“juristic”)
• gitäd (“judiciary”)
• gität (“right”)
• gitätön (“have the right”)
• gitik (“juridicial”)
• gitod (“justification”)
• gitöf (“legitimacy”)
• gitöfik (“legitimate”)